Sacrifices
by Fae 206
Summary: Defending the LME agency from an international gang wasn't the way that Kuon thought he'd die but he did give his life to save others. However, in doing this he left behind his wife and son. Using fairy magic, Kyoko is able to see Kuon come back to life in a different body with a different life. Can she support her husband? Will he achieve his dreams? 1st Person POV Kuon/Kyoko.
1. Chapter 1 - The Gift

**AN:** I know I have a ton of Skip Beat fics already but I wanted to write this and I thought of this all night. I hope that you guys like reading this as much as I loved writing it.

 **Sacrifices**

 **Chapter One – The Gift**

My husband is getting ready to do something dangerous and I have to stop him. I know that at a time like this it's hard to reason with him and I don't have a chicken suit to wear when I make an attempt to do so but I want to stop him. Recently there have been a string of threats towards LME made by an international gang. Somehow, Kuon seems convinced that that is related to him. I don't think so. Why would they try to strike at LME if their main target was him?

I hold our son in our arms, Haruto Kuu Hizuri, as I try to convince Kuon not to go. Kuon and I married when I was twenty, I got pregnant at twenty-two, and now I, Kyoko Hizuri, am twenty-four years old with an impressive acting career and history in modelling. I got more than I ever thought that I would get. I've been named the top Japanese actress numerous times and have won awards. Still, who would think that my wedding ring and our son would be most important to me.

Kuon has always been patient with me. He gave me time to adjust to being his girlfriend when I was eighteen and he waited until I was nineteen to propose to me. This was three years after our paths as Ren Tsuruga and Kyoko had crossed. It was two years after I had allowed myself to admit that I was passionately in love with him. Now it's been eight years and so how could he not be the most important part of my life.

I see the fear on his face as he looks at him phone and he walks over to me. I don't want to ask him what's going on, I just want to strap him down and convince him not to go. He doesn't have to be a hero this time. Let the authorities deal with that.

"Can I hold him?" he asks me as he steps in front of me and I look nervously down at Haruto. I kiss the top of his head with his ashy blond hair and gaze into our one-year-old's emerald eyes before handing him to his father. I see the tender way in which Kuon holds him and my heart stings in pain. This isn't fair. Kuon doesn't have to do this, he should stay home with us.

"Hey, little guy," he says gently as Haruto puts a hand to his cheek. "I'm so sorry that Daddy has to do this, I wish I could stay here forever. I'm sure that you'll be able to cope and Daddy will try to be back soon but if he isn't remember that he loves you, remember that he will always love you and be proud of you. He'll do his best to come home safely but if something happens," Kuon kisses Haruto on the forehead. "I love you. I love you, my little boy, my son," he says before giving him back to me.

I stare at Kuon with tears in my eyes.

"I really have to go," he tells me, "Ruto's been taken down. If I don't leave now then…."

"You're so cruel," I cry again. "I love you. Isn't that enough. I love you."

"I love you too and I will understand it if you need to remarry, I just want you to be happy," he tells me and I know he's going to enter the situation expecting to die. He's such an idiot. "I just…I owe Boss my life."

"You promised to give your life to me," I stubbornly say and cuddle Haruto closer. He looks at me with an apologetic expression. "I'll wish you luck but if you don't return then I'm going to…" I look at him, "I love you. I want to stop you from doing this. I love you," I beg him but he leaves as I hear the painful words.

"I love you too."

Don't go, just please, please don't go.

…

…

Most of LME has been compromised as I run in. I see a few dead bodies and feel that grip in my stomach but I have to keep running. Ruto has been taken down but there's still a chance. There is disaster everywhere, knocked over benches, small fires, ash, smoke, breakage but it looks like it's been evacuated. There must be hostages. Still, they are after me, if I make the sacrifice for them then this will be better.

I run up the stairs, ignoring the pain in my chest and get to the president's office. My eyes widen as I see Maria, she's breathing painfully as her body is on the floor. Even more reason as to why I should be here. I turn to see that the president's face is a mess but he's not dead. They've been having their fun.

I see Boss's eyes widen as I stand there and look at the man with the gun, the main guy with the gun.

"Kuon! Get the hell out of here!" Boss yells, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You gave me a chance at life!" I tell him as I manage to back up enough to untie Maria, my eyes still trained on the man in front of me. "It's me that they were drawn to, me that they want."

"Actually," the guy in front of me, a large and scary man who would be the textbook definition of a gang leader says. "You'd only be a consolation pri-" I take this moment to kick him, using my skills to take the gun out of his hand and then flip backwards as I avoid the shots from the other two men. I see Maria untying her grandfather at the side of my eye and throw myself at the wall, using it to bounce off of to send a kick to my enemies face. It immobilizes him for a second.

"Get out of here!" I yell at Maria and Boss as I sink down to avoid more fire and then jump up, feeling the ceiling against my chest. I strike down with another kick before using my fists. I see them leave though I also see the way Maria has to force her grandfather out. I'm happy that it's just the four of us in here. Hopefully there will be no more casualties today. Hopefully I can just go to the hospital where Kyoko will scold me but I'll recover and we'll be together again.

As I leave the two sidekicks unconscious, I pause and hear a strange ticking. There's a bomb in the room and as I realize this, things are becoming even more like a cartoon or a comic book.

"You're not leaving this room alive!" the guy yells at me and I look around. Suddenly I her another ticking. This office has been filled with explosives, hasn't it? I close my eyes. I could knock him out, move the bodies, make sure that only the office had damage done to it. That's the best way. Nobody would have to die today…as long as I move quickly enough. Concentrate, Kuon.

I turn my focus to the man in front of me. I have to get him unconscious. Using a few martial arts moves, I manage to get him on the ground, he's breathing in pain and then it hits me. There's more ticking and it's fast now and then….as I draw another breath I hear a loud bang and am forced onto the ground. I can't stand. I can't breathe. I can't make sense of what's going on.

Another boom and everything is goi-

…..

…

I feel the pain in my chest as I look at the damage that has been done, there's barely enough to identify of him but I know that it's him. I'm glad that Yashiro has Haruto because half of his face is gone, his skeleton can be seen and his body isn't together, there's not enough body parts here to be a person. I feel the pain in my chest as I know that parts of him were splattered against the walls and windows in that office.

He's gone. The love of my life is gone.

I hold tightly to Corn as I want to throw up, I want to leave sanity behind and fall completely into madness. He should have stayed. I should have forced him to stay, found rope, found the magic words but he's gone and I see the president's alive. I hate this. I won't even be able to face him. If Kuon hadn't felt such gratitude towards him, such personal debt, he would be alive and the president would be dead.

I bow my head as I nod, this is Kuon or what remains of him.

"You idiot," I whisper as I feel myself get completely hollow, "You should have stayed. You should have ignored them, stayed with me," I drop to my knees and hold Corn to my heart before I see something that I thought only happened in fairy tales. There is a strange light and something slips out of the mangled carcass and into Corn itself. Corn is getting warmer, starting to beat like a pulse. Did Kuon - I look at the stone confused and hold it in my hands. Did Kuon just enter Corn? Is Kuon inside of Corn?

"Sweetheart," I whisper as I kiss the stone and feel even more of his presence. I don't understand.

I look up and see what I've always imagined a fairy to look like. They have flowing hair, a white dress, flawless skin. This doesn't make sense but then none of this makes sense.

"You're Kyoko right?" she asks and I nod. Usually I would be thrilled to see this happen, I've wanted this to happen since I was a little girl. However, what I'm more concerned about is the dark green circle that is pulsating inside of Corn. Is that Kuon? Did his spirit enter our stone? "The fairyland owes you a great debt for keeping our kind alive. Without your unwavering belie-"

"What does it matter?" I ask her and I feel bad for my words but I've just lost my husband. I hold Corn to my heart. He's in there, right? Kuon's spirit is in the stone, right? "I'm here, sweetheart," I tell the stone again as I bring it to my lips.

With a wave of her hand, the fairy removes Corn from my hand and I feel my breath being stolen from me. They can't do that. Please don't do that. Even if he is nothing more than a pulsation inside of a small stone, that's all I have left of him. I want him. I want any part of him that I can -

"Give him back," I say as I get to my feet, I feel so shaky but seeing what happened to Kuon's body would do that to anyone. "Give him to me. Take whatever you want from me just don't take him." The fairy ignores me and I run forward. I know that she probably has fairy magic or some kind of power but it's Kuon who is within Corn. He's there. He might not be able to talk to me but his soul is in there, I can take care of him. I have to be able to take care of him.

"We want to give you a gift," the fairy says, "In gratitude to your service to the fairy court."

I stare at them before holding my hand out. I don't want a gift, I just want him. Even if it's only a light within Corn, even if I can't interact with him, I want _him_. "Give him to me," I tell her and she sighs before waving her hand. I see her create a black body bag which she zips up and Kuon's body disappears…or what was left of it.

"You'll want your gift," she tells me and I don't know how else to say that I don't want a gift, I just want Corn in my hands right now. I need to take care of his spirit. I need him. Why can't they understand that.

The fairy waves her hand again and seems to materialize a body, a young man in his early twenties. Why is he here? His BMI is a little higher than average but he's still attractive or would be. The fairy continues to wave her hand. He's about two inches shorter than Kuon. His hair is edging between a dark blond and light brown. He would be considered as gorgeous as a model despite the fact that he'd be considered plus size but why is he here?

The fairy places Corn over his heart and I see the green light start to fade within Corn but the man's body seems to become less pale although he would be considered a man with the complexion on the paler side. I want to stop this. I want to grab Corn and make sure that Kuon is safe but soon Corn returns to its normal blue color.

I feel the tears in my eyes. Please don't tell me he's gone. He has to come back. I can't lose him.

The man on the hospital's gurney opens his eyes and it scares me how they are the same emerald as Kuon's. He looks at me and I recognize the way he does so. This is the same way that Kuon has looked at me when he's been delirious with a cold. I pick up Corn, it doesn't feel warm this time and the man stares at me.

"Kyoko?" he asks in a voice that I don't recognize in sound but I recognize the inflection. He stares at me again and I look at him with wide eyes. What is happening here? "Kyoko, where am I? What…happen-" he puts a hand to his forehead, "The bomb. I didn't dea—"

"Sweetheart?" I whisper as I look at him. This man looks nothing like Kuon other than those emerald eyes. "Kuon?" I ask before he nods, staring at me again. Tears are washing down my cheeks and he looks at me, he doesn't seem to know what's going on. I don't really know what's going on but this man, this man has Kuon's spirit inside of him. This plus-sized Adonis is Kuon.

"Is everything okay?" he asks and I nod, moving even closer to him.

"It's okay, sweetheart," I tell him not sure how to explain this to him but this gift, this gift is more than I could have ever asked for. I lean down and kiss his lips, he tastes the same, the kiss is the same, his perfect passion-filled kiss. I let my hand cup his cheek as my fingers go through his hair. "It's okay, sweetheart," I repeat, "Everything is going to be okay."


	2. Chapter 2 - New Body

**AN:** I know that this isn't going to be one of my more popular fic but I really enjoy writing it so for anyone who enjoys reading it, please understand how grateful I am for you. It's because of people like you that stories like this can continue 😊

 **Chapter Two – New Body**

My body feels weird. It feels bloated and the room seems warmer than usual, it's also stiff as if it's new which is strange, it isn't as if I just took my body out of some bubble wrapped packaging and slipped it on as if a designer suit. Then again, was I hallucinating? My body should be blown up with parts of me splattered against the wall as if in a multi player video game.

"Why am I here?" I ask. I feel delirious, my voice sounds different and I'm finding it harder to move but Kyoko is with me and it looks as if she's been crying. Really, if I was brought back to life then I can't blame her. My body must be a mess and I'll have to get used to it. Heh, brought back to life? Is that even such a thing. Maybe I never made it into LME and there was some kind of gas that made me dream the whole thing.

"You were hurt, sweetheart, but it's okay," Kyoko tells me. "Kuon, something went….wrong" she says and I roll my head to the side.

Of course, something went wrong. This doesn't feel like heaven unless heaven is truly as boring a place as earth but I'm not sure what she's saying. I freeze, my head is really hurting right now. This must be because of what happened at the agency. I try to push myself up but find that my body is a little heavier and this gurney isn't really ideal for moving around on.

"Here," Kyoko says as she puts one of my arms around her shoulder and somehow I feel like it's thicker and definitely different as if I was inflated with air. That must be some kind of strange medical test. "Sweetheart, you're alive but you're…" Kyoko seems to struggle with the words, "You're somebody else. You're in a completely different body and….well, I don't think you can return safely to your own. Your old body is so damaged," she sniffs, choking as she pulls back with a sob. She gets me sitting on a chair.

"What are you talking about?" I ask her, this doesn't make sense and I put my hand through my hair which seems to be styled by a professional. Okay, that's strange to have my hair styled when I was blown up, it wasn't as if a bomb came with a blow dryer and a comb. Kyoko digs out her phone and turns the camera function on before handing it to me.

"Take slow breaths," she advises and I look at the screen on the camera.

Who am I? I don't look like myself. I put a hand on my hair then go down my face, touching my cheeks, pinching my nose. I really am a different person. The only part of myself I recognize are my eyes. I look at her in shock and she's got an arm wrapped around her chest whilst trying not to cry.

"I should slap you for being so stupid," she says as I continue looking at myself. It's as if I'm twice my size, maybe slightly less than twice but I'm definitely going to need a change of wardrobe. I have to admit that I'm still model level attractive but in a different category, I pass her back her phone and she slips it into her pocket.

I reach down to the hospital gown and look underneath it, I still have abs, I still am well-toned, I put my hand on my lap, bigger there as well. However, my bones seem bigger, wider, and I feel something that is strange to me. I feel hungry.

"Sweetheart, I know it's a shock but it doesn't matter what you look like," Kyoko attempts to remind me as she kneels down opposite me. She puts her hand on my cheek, cupping it and smiling before she leans up and kisses my lips in a passionate manner. It feels the same. Thank god it feels the same. "I love you. I love you and if you do anything that stupid again then you're going to get more than a slap."

I bow my head, "I felt like I owed him a debt for my life," I tell her as I try to place my accent. Am I still American? My Japanese accent doesn't feel right, it's as if I learned it in a high school setting. How is my brain still holding the language fluently if my lips don't seem to. "I'm sorry."

"At least we still have you," she says and I stare at her.

"I don't want anyone else to know about this," I tell her and she takes a step back. She hadn't expected for me to say that to her.

…

…

"I don't want anyone else to know about this," he tells me and I look at him panicked. I can understand what he means by that, the world doesn't have to know who he is but it would break my heart to see two very significant people not know the truth. I don't want to see his parents mourning their son when he was just in a different body. Seeing Julie-san and Father suffer isn't something I can take easily.

"I don't like that," I tell him as I imagine the days, the weeks, the months where Julie would be afraid to move from her bed because she didn't think Kuon existed in the world. I think about how Father looked when he thought he was a terrible father. I think he'd withdraw from the world, blame himself, not be able to continue acting because of his grief. No, those two are parents who love him so much with their whole being, they would do anything for him.

"Kyoko," he says as he looks me in the eyes, "They can't know, if I was their target then they can't know and I don't want to tell the president, I don't even want Yashiro to know." I can understand that. As wrong as I'd feel lying to these people who are kind to me, I want them to know.

"It's okay if they don't know that's understandable but there are…I don't want to lie to your parents," I argue and he nods, looking down guiltily. I feel my heart pounding in my chest. I can't let his parents go through the grief of losing their son.

"You think they'll accept the explanation? That they'll accept me?" he asks with pain in his eyes and I nod. As long as he says the right words that convince him of who he is then they'll accept him. It shouldn't matter to them what he looks like, who he is, they are his parents still and we need their support. If Kuon has to go to the U.S. then they would be there to help him find somewhere to live and to take care of him.

I can't lie to them.

"Kyoko," he says as he watches me, "Don't you think we should leave the hospital?" he asks and I sigh. The hospital probably won't understand who he is, they won't treat him because they'll think he's an intruder who never got checked in. This is where Kuon Hizuri was taken. This isn't where….whoever Kuon is now should be.

"Okay, can you stand?" I ask him and he nods, he looks shaky as if he's drunk but he's standing. I look around the room before my eyes catch onto a pile of clothes that should be his size. A pair of underwear, jeans, a button up shirt. I grab them and give them to him. "Here," I tell him and he looks at me nervously. "Whatever your body looks like, it doesn't matter," I tell him wanting to show my support for him.

He nods before starting to get undressed. His body is still in great shape. I smile as I see his muscles, his good physique. His bones are just a little bigger now. I silently watch him. He's still handsome but even if he wasn't, I would still love him. He would still have the sexiest soul to me.

…..

…..

I'm finishing with getting changed when a doctor knocks on the door and opens it. I don't know how to explain myself or what I'm doing in here. There wasn't any time to think up an excuse and so I look at him, my eyes widening but he stares at me with a smile.

"I forgot to hand you back your ID, Prince-san," he says as he walks over to me and Kyoko and I stare at him. Why is he so natural about this? Is he real or fantasy? Maybe he's somebody who was sent by whatever life form brought me back and therefore is just trying to make me feel better.

I take the card that he is giving me and look at it before groaning, Kyoko comes over to me as she shows concern about whatever might be on those cards. I hand it to her and she smiles weakly as she looks at my name. "Eric Prince" she says before I look at her. At least the name isn't Prince Charming.

"Hizuri-san," the doctor says in surprise, "What are you doing in here? With the tragedy, I thought that you would have left."

Okay, maybe this person is real. The life force that brought me into this body would know why she was here. I turn to her with an open mouth as she bows her head and starts to cry, she's a pretty convincing widow and that just breaks my heart.

"Eric-san is a friend of mine," she says as she looks down, "He was in the hospital too so I wanted to see him. He's a friend of Kuon's."

"You're American, correct?" the doctor asks me and I nod. "It's a good thing that you're a resident here, good health insurance, if you were a traveler then -"

"Am I cleared to leave?" I ask him and he nods.

"Just sign out at the front desk," he says and Kyoko looks down, her shoulders sag and I hate how she is pretending to be mourning me. Maybe if a way she is. I'm Eric now, just like the prince out of The Little Mermaid, and no longer Kuon. Even if my spirit is here, it's a sad thing for both of us to lose my body.

…..

…..

I knew that he was a prince. I knew that he was always my prince charming and now he has that last name so he can't deny it any longer. I stand next to him as I see the cameras, the paparazzi and I silently gesture for Kuon to go in a different direction. Nobody takes a photo of him. Nobody pays him any notice but I can see the way in which he is looking back at me. He wants to help me but that wouldn't be good for either of us.

As I hear the people swarm around me, asking about Kuon and if he was dead, asking about my period of mourning and whether I'll be withdrawing from acting, I feel smaller. I feel my body shake and tears still flow down my face.

"Excuse me!" I hear a voice from the crowd and look up to see a blond running towards me. Father. He came for me. Father runs up to me and throws his arms around me, wanting to protect me from the cameras. How did Father even…of course he'd know, of course he'd be able to tell from the last phone call that Kuon made to him that something would happen.

I see the pain in Father's eyes and his expression but he's still wanting to comfort me. "C-Come on," he chokes as he tries to pull me away. I look at him.

"Kuon's alive," I tell him and he stares at me. He takes a deep breath in and I know from his expression that he doesn't believe me.

"Let's talk about this where we can be alone," he says and I look over to where 'Eric' is, I need his help to convince Father of the truth. Father needs to know the truth.

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to** Crazy4Animation **for her review of the previous chapter and her support. Thank you so much.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Father

**AN:** Personally, I really wanted to write this chapter because I wanted to deal with some painful emotions without taking any of my fics in a direction it wasn't already moving in. I really hope that you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading 😊

 **Chapter Three - Father**

Kuon or Eric has left my sight. I'm not sure what to call him anymore because although he'll always be Kuon to me, the world perceives him differently. I sigh and bow my head as I think of how hard this is for him and Father looks at me sympathetically though it's more than obvious that his heart has broken. I wish Kuon would just tell him the truth, it's not as if Father and Julie-san would reject him.

"I know that Kuon's alive," I tell him and Father looks at me, his eyes are showing that he doesn't believe this and I don't know how to explain the fairy magic without sounding completely insane. Kuon needs to be the one to tell them.

"Kyoko, I asked the doctor personally if he could send me pictures of the body," Father stops, putting a hand to his chest as tears come to his eyes and I know that if he truly saw Kuon's body even in a photograph how painful that would have been. "There is no chance of Kuon being alive."

"Father, I don't want you to be upset," I whisper as tears fill my own eyes seeing his pain and he looks down at the ground.

"You can't stop this," he tells me as he turns to me. "I'm sure that the pain is the same for you," we walk along and I see Father's body tense as we're in the direction of LME. He can see the destruction of the top of the building from here and I just wish that Kuon was by my side. I wish that Kuon had told him because seeing Father break, hearing him sob, that's far too painful. Inside of Father's head he's lost his biological son and Father is one of those parents who is overly loving and thinks the world of their kid.

"Father," I rush forward and put my hand on his back as he drops to his knees.

I hear a voice that makes my stomach twist despite knowing that it wasn't actually his fault. I don't want to act out of anger but that's difficult when it comes to this man. "Shuuhei," he says and I see Father's whole body start shaking. I don't know whether it's in grief or in anger but he's avoiding eye contact. "What happe-"

"Shut up!" Father yells and I want to hug him. I've never seen him so upset but then he's always had Kuon safe, he's always known that he could one day be in his life again and that he was thriving. Now, in his mind, Kuon is gone and he will never see his son again.

"Kuu," the president continues and I don't even want to look at him. I know that the president didn't control Kuon's body and force him to try to rescue him but Kuon shouldn't have even gone. I know that the fairies are giving him another chance but Father doesn't, the pain must be greater for him.

"Shut up!" Father yells again. "I don't want to hear it. Just leave me alone, leave my family alone!" he says before his body shakes even more and I can't help but to come forward and hug him. He sobs harder and I hate to see such a strong and happy man undergoing such grief.

"I'm sorry," I say to the president and I can't even look at him. "Please leave, I'm sorry for my rudeness but please…you being here is making things worse," I say. I want to be polite and respectful but Kuu is incredibly hurt. Lory nods and I reach my hand out to take hold of Kuu's.

"Father, it's okay. It'll be okay," I tell him before he shakes his head.

"My son is dead," he says painfully, "my little boy is dead," he repeats as he pushes one hand through his hair completely messing it up. I see the president leave and I close my eyes. Kuu is completely distraught and I wish that Kuon was here and that he could explain to him that there is a way that he's alive.

I see another person approach us and I feel my breath catch in my throat as I look up at Kuon…or Eric. He looks a lot like a younger version of that American actor…I think his name was Pratt…Chris or something close to it. I reach for his hand as he crouches down.

"Can I talk to the two of you?" he asks and I nod as Father tries to calm himself down.

…

…

I've never seen Dad so upset. I made a lot of mistakes as a kid and I've seen him disappointed in me and the situation, I've seen his quiet moments where my mother had to coax him out of it and I've been yelled at by him before and seen the guilt in his eyes when he apologized to me. I also saw the pain when I was fifteen and he saw me walk away from him without a word to him and he didn't want me to go. I know that I've caused so much pain in Dad's life but he's unable to stand and his sobs are painful to me.

Kyoko looks at me, taking my hand, but her eyes go back to Dad.

"I…I know that it's hard to believe," I try, I don't know how Dad is going to react to this, "but it's strange and unusual and magic but it's actually happening."

Dad looks to the side, not wanting to speak but the words still come out of his mouth, "what's happening?" he asks not wanting to look at me. I'm sure he just thinks I'm some nobody, some fan that's going to try to give him some words of comfort or advice that he doesn't want.

"I…" I turn to Kyoko, "I'm…my soul is in a different body," I say and I see Dad shake his head, I know that he doesn't understand yet. "I'm Kuon," I say and Dad's body shakes even more. "When I was fifteen, I went away from home because of Rick. You and Mom had tried everything but you contacted the president and he took me to Japan and -"

"Everyone knows that, that information became public when Kuon stopped being Tsu-" Dad argues and I take another breath in.

"When I was thirteen you first caught me with a girl," I tell him, "It was on the day that you started shooting 'Dragons'. After the girl, Lynette, left you didn't yell at me or tell me that you were disappointed, you just stared at me for nearly an hour. Then you told me about how important it was to be emotionally ready to be with a girl and the next day you bought me condoms and told me to never tell Mom that you got me them."

Dad's body stops shaking and he pauses, he still doesn't look at me. I know that the pain is too much for him but at least I'm having him listen to me. Kyoko stares at me.

"You were thirteen?" she asks and I look at her, I know that's not the important thing, "I mean, Americans must be more different than I thought."

"When I was older, shooting Dark Moon, you tried to bully Kyoko in order to have me contact you, in order for me to want to see you. She had acted out Kuon and I was scared that you had revealed parts of my secret," I see Dad calm himself enough for him to look at me like I'm some strange fantasy creature that shouldn't exist but he was extremely curious about. "You asked me to make that video message and then told me that you wanted me to add a message to you as well. For so many years I didn't think that you and Mom loved me but you told me that even if I was twisted in my mind, you still loved your one and only lovely son. I was able to grow after that, as a person and as an actor."

"Ku-Kuon?" Dad says shakily as he looks at me. He puts a hand out and turns my chin to see both sides of my face. "I don't…I don't understand what's happening," he admits.

"I understand," I nod, "Not what happened but it's hard to explain, there was fairy magic involved but my body was so damaged they had to create a vessel. They built me a history, I looked on my phone, but it says that I'm an orphan without a family."

"Of c-c-c-ourse you have a family," Dad stutters before he throws his arms around me. "I'm your family. I'm still your father," he tries to tell me. "Your mother will still want to be your mother. Kyoko is your family even if she's not legally your wife. Haruto is still your son."

"I hope that's true," I say with a sigh and Dad looks me over again.

"Whatever body you are in," he says and looks into my emerald eyes, "You are still you and it's so…I..I can't describe the feelings I'm having that you're alive." He coughs again, "You're alive." He takes a few more breaths and I'm able to help him to his feet, "You must be so disappointed to have such a weak father."

"No," I shake my head. "Dad," I whisper and see him smile, "You're not weak and I'm thankful that you care about me so much."

"Can I be angry at you?" he asks and I nod, "Good because as much as I love you," he says honestly, "That was a really stupid thing that you did."

"I know," I nod, "but I wanted to help." Dad looks at me and flicks my head before hugging me. He stays there for a moment before pulling back. "You're still so handsome," he tells me and I look down with a nod. I don't know how true that is but I don't want to hurt him.

…..

…..

I'm happy that Kuon is back in our home. I'm happy that Haruto seems to have accepted him and that though he doesn't have the same bond with him as when Kuon was in his own body, I feel that Haruto secretly is able to know that this is his daddy by the way Kuon is holding him. I still can't stop appreciating his new body. It's so different, you wouldn't even think the two relatives, but he's still gorgeous. Father is watching the two of them bond but he's nervous. Julie-san is arriving tonight and we're all hoping she believes in Kuon or Eric as much as we do.

I hear Kuon's stomach growl and Father stands up. We turn to look at him.

"You're hungry, right?" he asks and Kuon nods nervously.

"I think so. I think that's what that strange sound is, the strange feeling in my stomach but I'm not sure ho-" Kuon starts and Father smiles.

"You promise me that you're going to stay here?" Father asks and I hold to Kuon's hand. I hope that he doesn't leave, I know that there's an address on Eric's ID but I want him to stay here with his family. I want him to hold me in our bed. I want to explore his body some more.

"Yes, I will stay here," Kuon nods and I smile to him and nod as well as if he's asking me whether it's okay for him to do so.

"Then I'll go shopping for some food for us to eat, I call myself an expert on food," he says as he puts a hand to his chest and Kuon nods. "I'll make you a meal that is one of my favorites as well," he says and I pause.

I hate to say it but I find it necessary, "Remember that Kuon is dead," I tell him and he nods. "It's safer if people think that he's dead," I tell him and Father nods.

"I'll keep that in mind," he says before smiling, "I feel so grateful that you're keeping your mother and I informed," he tells Kuon who nods and closes his eyes. Father reaches out and squeezes his shoulder again and then turns to leave. Hopefully he can still master acting that he's in mourning.

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Two**

Brennakai, Crazy4Animation

 **Response to Reviews**

Thank you so much for the support 😊 Fortunately no second family or Julie would get really jealous 😉 Kyoko loves the name too.


	4. Chapter 4 - Social Media

**AN:** Hopefully the twist in this one doesn't anger you too much, Kuon/Eric only cares about Kyoko.

 **Chapter Four – Social Media**

I'm not sure what I'm searching for, I'm not sure what the fairies decided that my history is but as I look through social media I'm finding out more about my life. It's as if I have amnesia, well only slightly like I have amnesia, people with amnesia don't remember their past life. I wonder how long I can stay here, whether I'll be found out. I look up and then behind me. Kyoko is staring at me and I can't blame her, is she starting to dislike this body?

"It's okay for a wife to be concerned about her husband," she tells me and I blink before turning my whole body to face her. "I'm worried," she admits and I sigh.

"If you don't like this body then I can leave," I try to remind her and she stares at me completely shocked. Okay, maybe that wasn't the reason.

"Don't you dare," she warns me as she points a finger in my direction, "You promised both Father and I that you would stay here. Imagine the pain on his face whe-"

"I'm twenty three," I tell her and she shrugs not sure how to respond to that.

"So?" she asks me confused. I'm one year younger than her now, the relationship has flipped in terms of the age difference and now there is barely any age difference at all. I've stepped back so many years.

"I'm a graduate student," I tell her and she pauses before coming over to me. She puts her hand on my back and looks at the screen. I doubt that she thought that college would be something for us to think about. We have the money to cover tuition but it feels weird. She looks at the screen and tries to find out the information.

"You're training to be a lawyer," she points to the information, "Tokyo University's Law Program to get a second degree, impressive."

I pause before feeling a huge headache and I groan, my body slumping forward and Kyoko moves the laptop so that she can sit in front of me and let my body rest on hers. I see the fear in her face and I can't explain it. After about three minutes or so, the pain leaves me and I blink. I can feel the knowledge seeping through my body. My head fills with everything that I learned at the school I never attended.

"Kuon," she says as I rise and I see the terror in her eyes. She sits opposite me, gazing into my eyes and she reaches out to touch my cheek. "Sweetheart," she says as her body shakes a little and I'm scared that she's afraid of me. "Darling," she continues, "Are you okay?"

"I…" I tell her and take another deep breath in. She stays knelt in front of me and I see the fear in her eyes. "I remember studying, I remember all the things that I learned at university." She blinks confused before smoothing my hair down.

"Honey," she whispers slowly and I can guess what she's about to say to me, "Sweetheart, you never _went_ to university."

"Eric did," I tell her. I pause, am I getting Eric's memories, Eric didn't exist before the fairies had created this body, he shouldn't have a history and yet I'm experiencing it. I freeze as a woman enters my mind. She looks Japanese but she has blond hair, she looks like a model, skinny body, long legs, great height. I remember her lips and the way that her body feels in mine. I feel absolutely disgusted and Kyoko can see this in my eyes.

"Sweetheart," she says slowly as she looks at me. I don't want to tell her what I saw. I don't want her to feel jealous or think there's any competition. Why would fairies who wanted to help her give me memories of another woman? I frown, feeling relief when Dad rings the doorbell and Kyoko goes to answer it.

I stare down at the ground. There can't be another woman. No, there wasn't another…I freeze as I look at the relationship status on my social media page and my skin turns a deathly pale as I see the word 'engaged'. I quickly exit the page. Eric's engaged!? Eric didn't even exist until today, how on earth did he get engaged!? I look up to see Dad see that horrified look on my face and he drops the groceries, rushing over to me.

"What is it?" he asks, "What happened?"

…

…

Kuon…Eric…doesn't look well and I know that Father sees it. I stare at the food he brought, a few of the produce items are a little bruised after their fall but I can't blame Father for that. I'm concerned for Kuon as well but have had more time to understand that this is Kuon, this is his new body.

Father is sitting right opposite Kuon, his eyes widening as he looks at him. I know that this is new to both of us and Kuu just wants what's best. He's probably spent that whole plane journey worrying if Kuon is going to be okay and then when he learned about his death it crippled him from the grief. Of course he's going to be concerned with even the slightest discomfort on Kuon's….Eric's face.

"Can you breathe for me?" Father asks as he puts a hand on Kuon't…Eric's shoulder.

"I'm not an actor anymore," Eric tells him and I pause as that name echoes in my head. I'm reminded by those words that he's neither Ren nor Kuon. He's a new person now and to truly respect that I'm going to go by the name Eric as hard as it is for me to tell myself.

"Is that all?" Father asks and I sigh, I know that Kuon's always loved acting but maybe Eric doesn't. Maybe for Eric, acting is something that he isn't interested in and maybe Kuon's interests will fade and Eric's interests will grow. It doesn't matter though, as long as we're together then it doesn't matter to me.

"Dad," Eric says and Father nods to him, his eyes showing that Eric is as much a son to him as Kuon is, "I need to tell you something," he says and I look at them. I feel that they are excluding me from this conversation for a reason. I sigh as I pick up the groceries.

"I'm going to put these away," I tell them and Eric looks at me pained. I don't want him to feel that pain and it scares me how it shows on his face. I go into the kitchen with the bags. There's something that Eric doesn't want me to know about. I've already seen him naked but then a lot of illnesses couldn't be physically seen. If he is sick then maybe he doesn't want me to worry.

I hear Haruto crying and I call out to the two Hizuri men, "I'll get him. He's probably hungry," I tell them. Why do I feel that I'm being cast aside and that Eric might be questioning his love for me? Maybe his heart is different. There are tears in my eyes that I'm glad that he's not able to see because this pain isn't something that I want, it's not something that I asked for.

I asked for Kuon to be here with me and he is as much as he can be, he's alive. If his corpse was reanimated so that one could see his skeleton where the flesh had been blown off or burnt off then everyone would get fearful. Him being Eric is good but I feel that same insecurity as I did with Shotaro. I feel that I have this prince that I love but he doesn't care about me, he doesn't want me, he wants someone else. I can't stop the tears at this point. Please don't want someone else. I don't want another woman to steal you away from me.

I love you. Whether you're Kuon or Eric, I love you. I don't think I could recover if underneath all that I love existed another Shotaro.

…..

…..

"So," Dad leans forward as he looks me in the eyes. I stare down guiltily and I see him look even more concerned. If only he knew what was concerning me. "Kuon –"

"Eric," I argue and Dad shakes his head. I pause as I turn to him and he sighs.

"I want to call you Kuon when we're in private," he tells me and I open my mouth to argue, "Just until…well just until I get used to this situation. In public, well in public most definitely Eric Prince but you're Kuon, you'll always be Kuon to me."

"I'm not your son if I'm not Kuon?" I ask him and Dad gives me a stern look.

"You will _always_ be my son," he argues before he puts a hand to my shoulder and starts rubbing small circles on it. I know that he's trying to comfort me and I know that he thinks that I'm ill. He doesn't want to hurt me but it's so…I'm very nervous. "What is it that you can't tell Kyoko but you can tell me? I'm sure that whatever it is, Kyoko will understand."

"I…I'm engaged," I tell him and Dad's jaw drops.

"How can you be engaged?" he whispers as I shrug, "To an actual woman? But isn't this something that was created for Kyoko, how can you…" I shrug again. Dad sighs and looks down, I know that he's having as hard a time as I am trying to figure this out. "Do you know if you love this other woman?"

"The only person that I love is Kyoko," I argue and Dad pauses. He leans forward.

"You're going to have to break it off then, I'm not sure what kind of history the two of you have together but try to let her down gently. Break it off but telling Kyoko…I don't believe in hiding things from her but…you're going to have to tell her. You'll have to find the best time to tell her but when it's…you didn't do anything," Dad tries to reason out and I know that he's confused as I am.

"Of course I have to break it off," I whisper back to him and Dad sighs.

"I guess it's complicated for you. Do you have a job?" he asks me and I shrug again. He raises an eyebrow, "Kuon, that is something you have to figure out. If you have a job then you have to _go_ to your job. I mean…they probably set it up for a reason."

"I'm a graduate student," I tell him and he nods slowly, "Studying law."

"Then what are you doing for your tuition?" Dad asks me as he seems to look over to his bag. No way am I letting him cover this, the money that Kyoko receives in my will should be more than enough to cover my finances. That is technically her money despite it being mine yesterday. "Well, let's find out what your job is," he says and I return to the social media page.

I pause as I see the job that I'm supposed to have, I freeze, "I'm a manager at a Moz Burger?" I ask him and Dad pauses as he reads that and then shrugs.

"You could always quit or resign," he suggests but I'm stunned. I'm the manager at the same Moz Burger that Kyoko worked at eight years ago before she started work as an actress. As I sit there, staring at the screen, I hear the door and Kyoko goes to get it. I see Haruto in her arms and he reaches towards me. Hopefully he can still accept me as his father.

As the door opens, I see a distraught ghost of a woman who stares at me.

Mom…

 **End of Chapter Four**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Three**

Brennakai, Crazy4Animation, KrisXD

 **Response to Reviews**

Well Kuon is still going to be having to act that he's in mourning and he won't want to be close to Lory for a while, he knows it wasn't his fault but you always kind of blame someone in Lory's position if you have a loved one die as a result. I'm so glad you guys are supporting this story and the emotions within. Thank you 😊


	5. Chapter 5 - Kuon Hizuri's Wife

**AN:** I had a lot of fun writing this chapter despite it having been a while since I worked on this fic 😊 I almost forgot of its existence. Anyway, thank you for giving it a chance and reading it. I do appreciate it.

 **Chapter Five – Kuon Hizuri's Wife**

My eyes are wide as I look towards the door where my mother has just entered. She looks to be in so much pain. What was I expecting? Her son has just passed away in her mind and my mother has always been protective of me. I look up at her guiltily and she rushes over to my da—Kuu—my father. I stand up, trying to take a few steps away as I make an attempt to distance myself from the situation. She stares at me, studying me. I know the question in her mind, what the hell am I doing here?

"Julie," Kyoko says as she walks over to her and I'm left gasping the air. Do I try to explain myself? Do I take a step away from the situation? What? Mom is continuing to look at me but then turns to Kyoko, her eyes filling with tears.

"Kyoko," she whispers as more tears slip from her eyes, "I'm so sorry. My son did such a stupid thing to end his life. It'll take me some time before I can stop being furious at him. I'm so sorry," she whispers and I feel even more ashamed. I thought that saving the life of somebody who had given me my second chance would be a good thing but I never thought I'd be around to experience their pain. I'm a huge jerk.

"Kuon's alive," Kyoko whispers and I'm glad that she's dealing with this.

Mom looks at her in shock and wraps an arm around herself, "Kyoko, that's a lie. I've seen the pictures of the body. I know that my baby is gone and I miss him already. I know that the two of you feel the same as -"

"Kuon is alive," Dad repeats and Mom glares at him. I don't think she can comprehend what's going on. "You're right, his body is gone, destroyed and you can't really come back as yourself without bringing alarm but he's not dead, not in his spirit, his mind.

"Are you trying to confuse me?" Mom asks as she looks between Kyoko and Dad and ends up staring at Dad. I'm not sure if I should step into this conversation or not. I don't know the best way of explaining this, maybe something that only me and Mom shared but I would tell Dad everything. I see Kyoko look towards me nervously.

"He's not trying to confuse you," I tell her and she stares at me, looking at me as if she has absolutely no idea why I'm here. I can't blame her. I don't really have much of an idea of what I'm doing in this body either. "Do you remember when I…your son told you that he was scared of going to school because he had a famous father? Do you remember that he said he never wanted his father to find out about that fear and you told him that he was his own person, he was going to grow up to be the best Kuon Hizuri that he could be and then you bought him this leather bound, black journal that you had written on the first line, 'You are your own Hizuri'."

Mom stares at me, moving in closer as she remembers that. She looks at me suspiciously and I take a step back. "What are you doing here?" she asks and I feel the fear through my body. Will she honestly believe it if I tell her that I'm her son. Would it be better for her to assume her son was completely gone?

"I'm…I know that you play back the video tape that was made for you still, the one that your husband had requested when he came to Japan. I know because I recorded that, I…told you…how much I appreciated it and how you said that you only had a month to live, you always made comments like tha-"

I freeze as I'm suddenly cut off and Mom is hugging me, shaking and crying into my chest. Does this mean that she accepts me as her son? She looks at me, placing her hands on my cheeks and smiles with tears in her eyes. "How is this possible? How are you here?" she asks before shaking her head, "It doesn't matter," she told him with a soft laugh. "I don't need to know."

I hear Kyoko laughing softly and soon the memories make me feel a little disconnected by this. I turn to her. As much as I'd like to handle the situation without her knowing about it, I need her to know, it's only right for her to know. "Kyoko," I tell her and she hums, "I need to talk with you in private."

Kyoko stares at me before nodding, "Of course," she whispers as she passes Haruto to Dad and puts her hand on my shoulder.

"Okay," she says as she looks at me lovingly and I feel even guiltier, "Let's go talk."

…

…

He's so nervous in this room already and as much as I want to tell him that it's fine, this is our bedroom, I want him to wrap me up in his arms and that I love him. Even if he's younger than me. Even if his body has twice the fat content that Kuon's has – which is more an issue for him than for me – he's Kuon, he's just living a new life and that's, of course, so difficult to get used to.

"Sweetheart," I gesture to him, "Can you please sit down and tell me what's going on?" I ask him and he does so. I sit next to him and kiss his cheek, humming as I let my head rest on his shoulder. "What do you want to tell me and if this is about my being marri-"

"We're not married," he says and I freeze. Okay. It's true. We're not married anymore and he's not my husband but that doesn't stop me from _feeling_ as if we're married. I try hard not to cry. "Your husband is dead."

I sigh and look at him, "only technically," I take his hand in mine. It's going to be many years until the country believes that he's my husband again but that doesn't matter. What matters is that in my heart, I believe that I'm married to this man and that I love him. Anything other than that doesn't matter. "Don't you want to be married to me?"

"Of course, I do," he whispers and I let my hand rub his upper arm. "I have a fiancée," he tells me and I stare at him in shock. This must be a new development because Kuon Hizuri would never cheat on me. I pull back, trying to hold back the tears in my eyes. I don't want him to see me cry. Is this his way of telling me that he's going to commit to Eric's life, that he's not going to stay with me and Haruto? Do I even have a right to blame him?

"Oh, if she's the one that makes you happy. Eric, even if it's not with me," I tell him before letting out a sob, I close my eyes and feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I'm being so selfish right now. "Even if you're not with me, I just want you to be happy. I want for you to be so so happy."

"I want to break it off with her," he replies and I feel relieved. Thank god that he is choosing me over this other woman. "I'm nervous how to and then…there's the really embarrassing news," he tells me and I see the shame on his face. Oh my god! This woman isn't pregnant is she? Am I supposed to be known as a homewrecker? I thought that Eric didn't have a past and now there are these surprises that he's throwing at me. "I'm the manager at a Moz Burger."

I pause. Huh? Did he just…I sigh in relief, that might be embarrassing to someone who has always grown up in the luxury that the Hizuris provide but it's a regular job that someone can have and he must be pretty skilled to be the manager there. I stare at him confused.

"Is that it?" I ask and he nods, "Ku—Eric, listen, the fiancée I can handle if you break up with her but don't ever feel ashamed of having a job," I tell him and wrap my arms around him. "Would you want to go back into acting? It will definitely take a bit more work for you to build up your career again but you can do it."

"And this woman…" he says as he looks to me, "will you help me break it off with her?"

I smile. I will definitely find pleasure in doing so. I don't want him to be with anyone else. He might not look like Corn or even Kuon anymore but if I can claim him as my own, I'm ready to go out on the battle grounds. All's fair in love and war, right? "Of course, but not as Kyoko."

"As who then?" he asks me. Don't worry. I have a plan.

…

…

I'm relieved that I have a day off today but I wasn't expecting _this_. I knew that Kyoko kept different clothes around for her different characters but I never once thought I'd see my so-called sister brought to life again. I'm not her brother, nothing close to Cain Heel but this is the role that Kyoko chose to play and though I don't really know why, I guess it's best to roll with the punches.

"Are you sure you're okay with being seen with me, Setsu?" I ask her and she rolls her eyes.

"I fall in love in different ways," she says before blushing softly and I stare at her. This definitely is an odd relationship but the great thing is that though Cain Heel was revealed to be Ren Tsuruga who was then revealed to be Kuon Hizuri, nobody really cared about Setsuka and nobody made an attempt to figure her out.

"And you're okay with being with a guy like me?" I ask and she takes a step in front of me. She reaches out to me and takes my chin in her hand before kissing me, letting her tongue run inside my mouth.

"I don't negotiate when I'm in love," she tells me and then reaches for my hand again as I lead the way to the apartment that I'm living in. This is definitely going to be a tricky thing to pull off but whoever that girl is, I don't love her. I am completely infatuated with Kuon Hizuri's princess.

As I open the door to the apartment, I see a woman rush over to me and I remember instances with her that never happened.

"Eric!" she laughs happily as she wraps her arms around me, "I'm so glad that you're home, darling. I was worried about you," she says and I feel guilty but one look at Setsuka is enough for me. "Who is this?" she asks and I take a step back.

"I'm ending our relationship," I tell her and she laughs as she looks at me confused. "Nicole," I whisper, the name slips over my lips effortlessly. "I'm not in love with you anymore, I haven't been for a while. I just didn't believe that anyone else would love me. I'm sorry but it's really for the best."

"For the best? Eric, even if you slept with this…this prostitute," she says as she looks at Setsuka. "We can make it work, it may take some time but I'll forgive you. I care about you that much."

"Well," I cough as I look at her and then my eyes narrow, "At least Setsuka is a lot more deserving of a woman than I am," I say and she looks at me in shock as Setsu takes a step back too.

That was far too cruel, wasn't it?

 **End of Chapter Five**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Four**

H-Nala, melchormonica8, PaulaGaTo

 **AN2:**

Don't worry, I'm a RenXKyoko fan too so they will always be together, the fiancée is just showing that the new life as Eric will be even more difficult for Kuon. Haruto (and I honestly forgot I had used that name for this) will most definitely still love his dad despite the changed appearance. I'm excited to write about Lory and Yashiro since Eric doesn't want either of them to know. It's always harder to face a pained family member, I believe.


	6. Chapter 6 - Moz Burger

**AN:** In the last chapter I accidentally had Eric call himself a woman instead of his ex-fiancee by saying I am rather than you are which caused a lot of confusion, lol. This chapter is shorter than I was originally planning but hope you still enjoy

 **Chapter Six – Moz Burger**

I take a deep inhale which is followed by a long exhale as I stand outside of the burger restaurant. This is one of the most popular fast food restaurants in Japan and apparently this is the location that Kyoko worked at when she was still living with Fuwa. I don't know anything about Eric, I don't even know if Eric existed at the same time as she worked here. I sigh. I have to remind myself that _I_ am Eric. Eric Prince. Kuon Hizuri is a precious treasured memory but it's one that I need to move on from.

It's strange even being here. I'm not someone who eats this type of food or at least Kuon never did. I'm not supposed to be craving fries as I am now. I mean. I grew up in the land of fast food and I never really craved it as a kid. Surprise, surprise, the son of Kuu Hizuri didn't want to go to McDonalds.

Now I need to go in and not even as just a customer. I'm a manager here. I have to go in and resign from a job that I don't even know how to do. Well, even if I don't resign, not being able to do a job is the first part of unprofessionalism and they should force me to resign for that alone. Hopefully today is the first and last time that I ever have to be here. Easy.

As I step into the restaurant, I blink in surprised. It's as if someone is doing acupuncture to my head and I can feel memories of times when I've worked here, experience I've gained, memories with co-workers. I freeze. How could these things be in my head? Is this how a computer feels when a new update is installed. I feel nervous about how I didn't know all these things when I was outside and now I do.

"Prince-san," another manager calls out to me and strangely enough I know his name and his favorite burger off the menu. How do I know that? I should be frozen and showing an error message with how fast this download of memories is.

"Eric-san?" an employee, Kisa, asks and I stare at her. I remember training her. How do I remember training somebody that I've never met? I wanted to treat this as a role but now it's harder than I had thought it would be. "Are you okay?" Kisa asks as she comes closer to me. "Your shift starts soon, doesn't it?" she smiles and she reminds me of a younger Kyoko. "I heard about the breakup," she tells me, "Are you okay?"

"Ye-yeah," I nod nervously. I still feel dazed. Before I came in, I felt that I couldn't do anything and now my mind is grasping new techniques and information and skills that I could never have dreamed of. "I'll start the shift," I say as I try to think of what I have to do to prepare. "I need to talk to Makoto-san. Please let me know when he comes in."

Kisa nods to me and I enter the backroom. I go to my locker and undo the combination on the lock as if by memory before grabbing my clothes and going to the bathroom to change. I step out of the bathroom once I have my uniform on and look at myself. I'm a Moz Burger manager. I thought that I would feel terrible about this but I somehow feel comforted as I look at myself.

I have never worn clothes like this even when playing a role. How do I feel happy when I see myself, my new body at least wearing these clothes. I don't need to do this. It should feel unnatural but it feels as if it fits. I need to call Kyoko! I need to call Kyoko.

"I'm going to make a personal call before my shift starts!" I call out, I don't even know if anyone is listening to me but I head out anyway. I try to take some deep breaths to calm myself. I'm thinking so irrationally. This isn't right, I should be wanting to get out of these clothes as soon as possible. I shouldn't be thinking about what I want to order for my lunch. I let myself sigh with relief as the phone is picked up.

"Hello, Kyoko speaking," she answers.

"Princess," I gasp, speaking faster than I probably should and I hear Kyoko excuse herself. She's with someone? Should I not have called her. I should be thinking about her. "Are you free to talk?" I ask and her voice is showing her anxiety.

"Sweetheart," she whispers, "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

I pause. This is going to sound like such a ridiculous complaint but I need to talk to her about this. What if this is going to be the start of more ways that I separate Eric and Kuon. I want to keep my family, my marriage, but maybe rushing into a building with a bomb in it means that I already sacrificed those things.

"What if…I…like this job?" I ask and I hear silence on the other end of the line.

"You like the job?" she asks me and then giggles. "Well, people like all kinds of things. Just focus on having fun in your new role. You know, you can link everything back to acting," she tries to remind me but I hesitate.

"So it's not a deal breaker for you, right? The manager of a Moz Burger?" I ask and she laughs softly.

"Corn, there are very very few things that you can do that would be a deal breaker for me. Enjoy work, sweetie, I love you," she tells me and I feel reassured by her words.

"I love you too," I reply.

…..

….

I smile as I put down the phone. In some ways I'm glad that he enjoys part of the life that he's landed in. As angry as I am at him for his stupidity at trying to be a superhero, anything that makes Kuon happy is good in my opinion. I don't want him to get too settled now because Japan is expecting me to be grieving my late husband. I come back to the table where Father is sitting and sit down next to him.

Father is holding Haruto on his lap and I'm reminded that I will never be able to see Haruto with a blond Kuon being fatherly to him again. I'll have to make do with seeing Kuon through Eric's shell. I pause. I'm being ungrateful. I should be happy that I have any Kuon, any version of Kuon.

"Is he okay?" Father asks me as he brushes Haruto's hair back and our baby boy looks up at his grandfather. "He isn't in trouble is he?"

"He said he might enjoy being the manager at a fast food place," I tell him and I see Kuu sigh in relief, his shoulders slump down and he feels more relaxed. I know that we both want whatever is best for Eric, for Kuon. That's why moving to America would be good for all of us, a new start for all of us.

I look down at my cup before seeing Haruto reach for me and I take him from Kuu. He is so much like his father, hopefully we won't lose his father's mind and heart ever again. I kiss Haruto's forehead and look up at Father and his face has turned completely serious. I pause. Something has happened.

"Kyoko, I'm done here, are you still eating?" Father says and it knocks me back a little. Father would never be this rude or direct for no reason but I'm not sure why he's acting like this now. I take a deep breath in before I pause nervously. Lory Takarda is here. I don't want to speak with him right now. I don't know if Father feels the same but it doesn't matter that Kuon was gifted back to us in another body. He still sacrificed his life for this man. I don't know how I feel about that.

"Hello, Shuuhei," he says to Father and Father looks at him before shaking his head.

"I'm still not ready, I'm sorry," Father apologizes and I want to remind him that Kuon is okay, he's just in a new body with a new identity. Still, the loss of even a role is painful and it's because he wanted to protect the president and Maria that his old life is gone and he's in hiding.

"Kyoko, maybe you and I…"

I freeze and shake my head. I don't want to be rude but I want to figure out what Kuon wants for us to do before I talk about him. "I'm not ready either," I tell him as I manage to wipe all emotion off of my face. I know that he wants to talk to the two of us and he can't really be blamed for what happened but I'm stubborn. I look at Father. He's stubborn too _especially_ when it comes to Kuon.

…

…

I want to tell him that I want to be done with the life of Kyoko Mogami. The life of Kyoko HIzuri I will always treasure, that will be our special shared life, but I want to be with him. I don't want people to think that I ever cheated on Kuon but I want to be able to say that I'm in love with Eric and I'm scared that if I don't say that enough to him, that soon he'll be out of my reach.

I hear a voice in the doorway. "Do you know how expensive textbooks are these days?" he attempts to joke with me and I look at him with a grin. He smells like the oil from the deep fryer. He has a little bit of ketchup on his cheek. He's holding what is a scary number of books.

I don't care about any of this because Kuon is back. My husband is home. "Hi, sweetheart," I whisper before stopping and my heart plummets and I start sobbing, feeling the sting more painfully. I can't help it. Eric reaches out for me and I throw my arms around him.

"Are you okay?" he asks me as he kisses my forehead and I nod. I let my head rest on his shoulder and I continue to cry. "Tell me," he says gently as the books drop on the floor and he moves us so that we're sitting on the bed together. "Are you okay? What's wrong, princess?" he asks and I try to stop the words from coming out of my mouth.

"You're different."

 **End of Chapter Six**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Five**

H-Nala, Kaname671, Paulagato

 **Author Response:**

It's definitely going to be hard to combine the two lives that Kuon/Eric now has and he's going to be scared to what he accepts and what he pushes away


	7. Chapter 7 - Distinct Differences

**AN:** So, I've been pretty nonactive for a bit now because I'm attempting to update 73 fics all at one time. I've written for about sixteen of them so far. However, I felt pretty proud of this chapter so am updating it early. I know it's not one of my more popular fics but I really hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Seven – Distinct Differences**

I freeze. I'm completely frozen because I have no idea what to say in response to those words.

 _You're different_.

I know that I'm different. I definitely feel it physically but I can feel it emotionally and mentally as well. I still love Kyoko, that love is something that hasn't changed but I've had to become somebody else because of the mess that I made. I should never have sacrificed my own life like that. I can't even begin to describe how selfish that was towards my son and my wife. I am different though.

I don't know what different means to Kyoko. Maybe she's trying to find the best way of telling me that although she fell in love with me as Kuon a long time ago, the me as Eric isn't someone she can force herself to love. I don't know if it's just the outside that she's reacting to but truth is that I _have_ changed and I'm unable to click my fingers and change back.

"Oh," I respond as I look towards the books. I don't know what else to say.

"What does that mean?" Kyoko asks me and I don't know whether to look at her or not, I don't know whether to be selfish or whether to let her go despite the pain that it'll cause me. I close my eyes and keep my back turned to her. Does she want me to leave? Is she trying to tell me that she's going to find it difficult to love me?

"It can mean whatever you want for it to mean," I tell her. I don't want to push her life around and she walks over to me nervously. She puts a hand on my shoulder and I can feel the shakiness of her breath. This is the moment she tells me that things won't work between us any longer.

"Are you willing to transfer internationally?" she asks me and I freeze. I didn't expect for that to be what she was going to say to me. I turn to her and she smiles weakly before bowing her head, she bites her top lip and she's acting towards me in the same way that she interacts with her mother. Am I _that_ scary to her?

"Ye-Yes," I nod and she smiles before throwing her arms around me. She pushes her face into my chest and I feel the tears dampen my shirt. I pull her into a closer embrace. I don't understand what she's talking about but I want to give her anything that she wants. _That_ part of Kuon still exists.

"I love you," she tells me as she takes a couple of steps backwards and attempts to regain her composure. She looks at me the same way that she always has and kisses me, cupping my cheek with her hand. I don't know how she does it but it's as if she's looking through my body. "As long as you're not done with me," she sniffs and I pause.

What did she just say? I grab her arm gently and stare at her, my eyes widen and I take a nervous breath in. "In what world would I _ever_ be done with you," I ask her and she smiles. She kisses me passionately and I feel that it is the same sort of kiss from before I died. We're still soulmates. That hasn't changed, we still belong together but we're going to have to navigate these changes together.

"Can I still call you Kuon in private?" she asks and I smile weakly, I sigh and push her hair back gently. I know how important it is to her that I remain Kuon on some level. I nod.

"As long as it's only in private," I tell her before kissing her again and she wraps her arms around me again to deepen the kiss. It doesn't matter if she does or doesn't call me Kuon in public, looking at me now and thinking about how Kuon's body looked like, nobody will believe that we're the same person.

…..

…..

I feel a little guilty about asking him to move away from everything that he's just getting used to but we're still young, we can still make a new life somewhere else and I can still have the option of continuing to act or doing something else with my life. I always felt that I could never replace the feeling of satisfaction that acting gives to me but I think that I can. Given the choice of whether to remain with Kuon – now Eric- and my life as an actress, I have to admit that my husband wins without a moment of thought.

I will miss acting though, developing characters and working with other actors to create scenes. I met Ren through acting, I met Kuon through acting and that was the main backbone of our relationship but that doesn't matter anymore. I think it was a back brace more than anything, something that we had grown out of and we are stable enough without it.

We will be stable enough without it because he's my prince and he, and he alone, has always supported my love of fairytales and princesses without mocking me for it or cruelly judging me. He has always given me purpose to believe in myself and I refuse to see that ripped away from me.

Father and Julie have promised us that they will give us any help we might need. I can't even begin to form my gratitude for that. I just want to walk down the street with my hand in my husband's without the cruel eyes trying to turn it into a scandal. I want to be Kyoko Prince. I want to live in a house with my husband and son and watch my son grow up…into a person who looks more like Kuon than he will ever do with Eric.

I close my eyes before feeling someone tapping me on the back, I turn and smile weakly. I would usually throw my arms around this woman and scream loud enough that people would be concerned but I just don't feel the energy to do so anymore.

"Hi, Moko," I whisper and she sighs.

"I'm sorry about his death," Moko says and I nod, trying to remain silent. If I told Moko-chan what had happened and about Eric and Kuon being the same person then she'd try to both get me committed to a hospital and to punish Eric for manipulating me and lying to me.

She wouldn't understand the fact that I'm telling the truth.

I nod, "Thank you," I tell her and she obviously doesn't know what to say and I don't want to cause her any further grief. She doesn't have to comfort me. I have _him_ despite people not knowing that I have him. "I think I'm going to be moving. I don't want to be in Japan any longer despite this being where he died. I have the ashes," I tell her and it's true. I do have the ashes from the old body but there's no soul in there. Yes, that explanation would sound absolutely insane again.

"It's a good idea," Moko tells me and I turn to her.

"You think that my going to America with Kuu-sama and Julie-san is a good idea?" I ask and she looks at me before sighing deeply.

"Mo," she says as she looks ahead of us and I know she's just gazing into space not focusing on anything actually there. "You know that your own parents aren't going to be here for you during this. Maybe those are _his_ parents but they care for you and they will continue to care for you. I'll miss you but maybe it's better that you have some support and your son has some support. If your mother was any decent…mo."

"Yes," I nod. It's the excuse that we decided to give, me needing some stability and everyone knowing how loving my in-laws are. In fact, they feel more like proper parents to me than my in-laws. I'm going to be living near them and that means that Father and I will be able to talk and come to terms with Eric without worrying him.

"Moko," I ask as I turn to her and she stares at me. "If one day in the future I was to fall in love with somebody else wou-"

"That guy would forgive you," Moko tells me and she looks at me sadly. "No. It wouldn't be that he would forgive you but he'd be supportive of you. He's always cared for you and your happiness. He'd want you to be happy and safe even if it meant somebody af-"

I nod before cutting her off, "No. Would Japan forgive me?" I ask and Moko is stunned. It's an important question. Kuon and the Hizuri family are so beloved here. I don't know if they would ever treat Eric with the same dignity and pride that the famous Kuon Hizuri had developed in a country, even in a country that he wasn't born in.

…..

…..

My memories are becoming mixed, it feels like what I always imagined insanity to feel like. I keep seeing things that I don't feel are real but they do seem real to Eric. I feel that I've developed multiple identities and it's worrying me that soon I'll be giving up my old life without really knowing it.

As we walk along, Dad puts his hand on my shoulder and I realize that there's nobody around us. He looks at me concerned and I smile weakly. "Are you doing okay?" he asks me and I nod nervously, "The restaurant should be right up here. Thank you for agreeing to eat with me today," he says and I nod nervously.

"It's an honor," I tell him with a quick glance from side to side. I feel my stomach turning again but I know that Dad will protect me. I steady myself and bow my head before seeing familiar shoes and I tense up again. I don't know how to react to this. The president is coming in our direction and I'm nothing to him, a complete stranger. I guess that I'll just base my interactions on how Dad does.

"Shuuhei," Boss says as Dad turns from him and tries to ignore his presence, I look between the two of them. "You know that I would have -"

"I'm not interested in talking to you, _ever_ ," Dad tells him and I feel guilty. I didn't mean to cause this tension between them. The two of them were close friends once upon a time. Was my death enough to create this type of irreparable rift. I sigh and Dad turns to me. "Are you okay?"

"Hi, I'm…" Boss turns to me and Dad unexpectedly stands in front of me. I look at him confused.

"Don't you dare talk to him, don't you dare touch him," he says and I want to remind Dad that this isn't the way that he should be acting towards me. I see that Boss is as confused as I am. Has Dad completely lost it? "You don't come anywhere near him," Dad says protectively and I look at him.

"You know you don't need to do this," I tell him and Boss is looking at Dad like he's finally lost it.

"The dead can't come back to life a second time," Dad says and he has his arms stretched out so that there's no way that Boss can touch me but I see his face, the confusion in his eyes and the realization of things starting to add up.

"This isn't Kuon," Boss says and we both tense, "Is it?"

"No," I whisper and Dad nods shakily. "At least not any longer."

 **End of Chapter Seven**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Six**

H-Nala, Kaname671, melchormonica8, PaulaGaTo


	8. Chapter 8 - Who Is He?

**Chapter Eight – Who Is He?**

Boss looks at me in shock, he turns to Dad again before looking at me trying to figure it out. Dad gets even more concerned about me and puts a hand to my shoulder as Boss and I look at one another and then turn towards Dad. "I can't stand being here," Dad tells me and I nod. I can understand the pain and frustration that facing Boss gives him.

"We can leave," I tell him, hoping to be helpful. "Don't worry about it, we can leave."

"Shuuhei, if this is Kuo-" Boss says and Dad turns to him with a defensive look on his face. "I'm not responsible for what happened," he tries to argue and I see Dad's body freeze. "Kuon did that to himself." I see Dad flinch and he deliberately turns his back on him.

"Eric," Dad says in a distant type of voice, "We're leaving, this was a bad idea."

"Are you sure you don't want to eat here?" I ask as I turn towards the building and see Boss examining me and my new body. Yes, I look different and I think differently too but right now isn't the time to be thinking about that. Dad needs to be comforted and I will try to do that for him even in this body. "It's okay. We can leave if you want."

"Shuuhei, I'm sure that he would have done the sa-" Boss tries to comfort Dad but it feels like the wrong thing to say. Boss turns to me before putting his hand on my shoulder and I see Dad clench his jaw as he notices this. He pulls me by the wrist until I'm standing behind him again. Dad can be quite strong if he wants to be.

"Despite the body being different, this is my son who I would never let die because of me. He was given a second chance, I'm not going to allow you to hurt him or interfere with his life. We're done with you," Dad barks and I can see how shaky he is. Boss has been a family friend for a very long time but I went and screwed all of that up. I don't know if Dad will ever forgive him despite this all being my fault. I was the one who wanted to play the part of the hero. I ignored my own family and the pain that they would experience because I wanted to save people.

"I'm sorry," I whisper as I then turn to look towards both men. I sigh. I know that Boss probably wants to discuss with me what happened and why one of the plots of the romance games he plays is happening and Dad just wants to protect me and is haunted by what he saw in the photograph. Both men care for me. It's my fault that this all happened.

"I need some time by myself," I tell them and Dad opens his mouth to call after me. He reaches out but I shake my head.

"Will you at least contact Kyoko and tell her where you are?" Dad asks.

I shrug, I don't know what to do and if this is how Dad and Boss feel about accepting me as I am now, maybe I'm doing Kyoko more harm than good.

…

…

I look at the luggage that I bought for us. It's finally coming together, we're going to be moving to America and we're going to be leaving the bad memories in the past. This is what I want. I want to not feel the pain that came from thinking my precious Kuon dead. I know that there are parts of him fading but he still has the memories of us and most importantly, he has the same love for me and Haruto.

As I hear a knock on the door, I look at my phone and feel that it's too early for them to be back. Father always spends a long time at the restaurants we go to. He always eats so much that it's hard for us not to just watch him. The chefs seem glad for it. Kuu Hizuri enjoying their food will bring crowds of interested patrons.

I stand up and go over to the door anyway, perhaps Eric forgot his key again. As I go to the door though I only see Father and Eric isn't with him. I'm not sure what happened. The two of them left together so it makes most sense for the two of them to return together.

As I open the door, Father looks at me with a weak smile. "He needs to figure some things out."

I blink, the words not really sitting right in my mind. Why wouldn't he return home if that was the case? We've always spoken honestly to each other. He should understand that the Kuon that I love is the one that lives inside of him. I am angry at him for giving his life in saving others but I was given a gift when he came back even if it was in a different body.

"Oh," I whisper as I step away from Father. I feel confused. Where could he have gone to? "Did he go back to work?" I ask and Father shakes his head. Work would be easier, I could try to disguise myself and go in and order something to eat and I could talk to him but if he needs some time to think then he could be anywhere.

"Can you watch Haruto?" I ask as I start to grab my coat and shoes. I need to go after him. Even if I have to search the entire prefecture, I'll find him and we'll talk like we always have. It doesn't matter what name he wants to give, he's Kuon and as long as he retains Kuon's memories he will always be him. Father nods and I go over to my little boy.

"Sleep well," I tell him before kissing his forehead and hear him give a soft squeak in his sleep. "I'm going to go find Daddy."

Haruto stretches but remains asleep and I turn to Father. "Thank you," I whisper to him before rushing out to find the man who I am going to always be unable to fall out of love with. If my mind is actively spinning out of control then who actually knows the damage to _his_ mind.

…

…

I decided to start at the university and the surrounding area. I think this is one of the biggest changes that he has to get used to. Ever since he was a young child, Kuon has wanted to be an actor. He sat on Father's lap and looked up at him with bright eyes and declared that he was going to be an actor. Far before she met him as Corn, he had a passion for acting but now that he had had a successful life of an actor, he has to go back and not be an actor. He has to pursue a different kind of dream.

That doesn't matter to me. It doesn't matter that I met him through acting and it was during his acting as Katsuki that I started to have feelings for him. If he doesn't want to act anymore then I'll support whatever dreams he does have.

I just want to find him. I want to find him and I want to prove to him that it's going to be all right, that we'll work on this together. As I take a step off of the campus, my eyes widen as I see him staring at a store window. I rush over to him, forgetting that people are staring at us because they recognize who _I_ am and look at what he's staring at.

Cooking equipment?

I turn to him with a soft smile as I see the conflict in his eyes. I'm just so glad that I was able to find him. Without thinking, I let my hand grab onto his and he turns to me in surprise. Kuon has always disliked food and eating and he is a terrible cook. I would never expect for Kuon to be looking at this store. I'm not sure about Eric. Does Eric enjoy food, is that the conflict he's facing?

"Hi," I turn to him with a smile and he nods to me in return. "Something catch your interest?" I ask as I look at the store and blink away a couple of tears. "Father's worried about you. I'm worried about you. Did you want to talk?" I ask and feel that I hear a couple of clicks but I try to ignore them.

"Do you think that that would be easy to cook with?" Eric asks as he stares at a couple of pans and I turn to him. I want to see him happy. Despite this not being his true body, I want to see him happy. I look in the window again.

"We can cook together," I tell him, thrilled by the idea. I want to spend as much time together with him as possible and cooking together is something that I've always wanted to do but been afraid to ask too much for. Kuon really didn't like food. He didn't enjoy eating it though he said that he always enjoyed eating my food. I still remember how happy seeing those food videos made me. "Let me buy them for you, okay?"

Eric chuckles, looking to me as we share the secret that the money I'm offering to use is Kuon's. Okay, I've made a lot of money as well despite having bills to pay but he has money saved up from his work as Ren Tsuruga and the high paying jobs he worked. Legally it's mind but only because Kuonis said to be deceased. For some reason, Eric is uncomfortable with that money being given to him but hopefully he lets me buy things for him. If it's only a set of pans then that's nothing money-wise.

"Kyoko," he tells me before nodding. "That would be amazing," he says and I squeeze his arm before hearing the flash of cameras and I realize that people have their cell phones out and are taking pictures of the two of us. I can't stop this from happening and I look to him guiltily. Maybe there is something that can stop this.

"I'm sorry," I tell him as I hear the questions and people demanding information about who this man beside me is. "I'm really sorry," I apologize as I see the fear in his eyes. Nobody will believe the truth and if we try to tell it then it's going to make us seem insane.

"Who is this guy, Kyoko?" someone asks me and I realize that this is some famous news person who was probably enjoying a day off and we randomly interrupted him. Nobody should switch to work mode like that.

I take a shaky breath and look to Eric who is speechless. "Uh…he's…he's…" I struggle.

"A charity case," he says and I look at him alarmed. Does he really think that that's what I see the new him as? I shake my head and I feel that I'm experiencing an out of body feeling as I seem to slip from all good sense and I look to the crowd, my body moving by itself.

"He's important," I tell them and see that there are a lot of people gathered now. "He's…he came back for me."

I turn to Eric who is looking at me as if I just shot somebody. He gapes not knowing how we're going to recover for this but that has a lot of possibilities, right?

 **End of Chapter Eight**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Seven**

H-Nala, Kaname671, paulagato


	9. Chapter 9 - The Reveal

**AN:** Very short chapter but last chapter didn't reach a lot of views and it was either short chapter or no chapter so I don't feel too guilty. Hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Nine – The Reveal**

As much as I've been struggling to figure out what is going on in the world around me, I felt that Kyoko and I were on the same terms when it came to my identity. I know we both have a little fear that the love that Eric Prince has is different from the love that Kuon Hizuri has but I trust in my love for her and that it has carried through to this new body.

Nobody is going to believe in her words though and I wish she hadn't said them. There's not an easy recovery back from them.

"Is this true?" one of the crowd say and I'm still unsure about that question. I don't know what they are referring to. Is _what_ true? That I've been an important person in her life. I know that it's true about Kuon but I don't think it's true about Eric and that's who I am these days. I don't do the same things as Kuon Hizuri or have the same history that Kuon had and that's a very good thing or it was. At least people won't believe her.

"There's nothing true, Hizuri-sama has just been helping me," I try to tell the crowd as I face them. I don't want her to feel even worse but it's going to be a hard walk through…mud to get out of this. "She's in grief, she's mourning the death of her late husband. Please show more respect."

"But the two of you know each other, right?" a couple of people ask me. "How intimately do you know her?"

"Not intimately," I struggle as I look at her, I gesture with my head for her to leave and make an attempt to tell her that I will hold back the crowds long enough so that she can go without too many questions. "I just…I met her and she's been very kind to me."

"He's my deceased husband in another body," Kyoko says and my jaw drops again. Does she even realize what she's saying? I laugh weakly and shake my head. Why is she telling them this now? First of all, I don't believe that any of them will actually believe in the fantasy elements involved alongside the shifting of bodies but secondly, wouldn't this need to be a secret? Why would she risk exposing fairies and the fairy kingdom to tell them this.

It's like my very smart wife has been replaced by someone who has absolutely no clue about the world around them and very little intelligence. I take slow breaths and shake my head, keeping it bowed. There's no way that they can believe this. No chance of anything happening to make this worse. I just have to concentrate, keep my head down and think about what my options are. Grief and depression are my main allies right now.

"I think I can explain this," I hear an ethereal voice say and I look to the side and see the same fairy queen there. What on earth is happening?! Now I'm panicking, what the hell is this? This just totally broke all writing conventions, at least not that many people would read about this.

….

….

I don't want to hide from everyone. My husband made a choice that I didn't agree with, that I told him that I could never agree with but he still made the decision to run into a building where he knew that a bomb was going to go off in and that he was going to do this in an attempt to save someone who had lived a full life.

Very fortunately, I got him back but in another body but I feel strangled. It's as if he's here but at the same time, he's not here. I feel that my head has started to spin too quickly and I'm not in control of my words. I feel that I just want this all to be in the open so that I can be with my husband intimately without being judged for it.

Yes, going to America might be the right decision for me but I want people to see this man as Kuon Hizuri. I don't know what's wrong with that. I know that he doesn't seem to like the idea but even if nobody is going to listen to us, I want to be able to say that aloud.

I just wish that I could have some tangible proof that it's him. I wish that I could just have them believe what he went through and what we've been through as a family. I want to protect him but the danger has gone, we should just be able to continue on with our lives. It doesn't seem that any amount of convincing would be enough to convince the whole world that Kuon is alive and is in a new body that's right next to me.

"I think I can explain this," a female voice says and I turn in the direction. My eyes widen as I see the same fairy that turned Kuon into Eric. I was hoping for a miracle and she came along. This was meant to be the time for the spell to be revealed and it will just get easier for us in time.

The fairy holds up a staff and then takes a step forward.

"Please, some space," she announces and I feel giddy inside. I've never seen proper fairy magic done before, well apart from the obvious bringing Kuon back to life part, she lowers the staff to the ground and a pool appears. "This is the human Kuon Hizuri," she says as she shows them the scene in the hospital room and I see Kuon struggling to restrain himself as the images continue to be channeled. "I show you this because my people want to make safe contact with humans. We wish to make contact with the Earth and now with the reveal of his identity, Kuon Hizuri," she says as she gestures to Eric who is looking as if he's going to pass out at any moment. "We have found our guide. We would have had to stay away from humans were his identity not revealed but humans always want to announce themselves."

The fairy walks over to Kuon and wraps her arms around him, kissing his cheek and whispering some words to him that I can't hear. However, it feels like the nightmare is over and that we can be in public together. Maybe I shouldn't have given into human desire at the expense of the fairy realm but I have often been selfish and stubborn, after the childhood that I've had, I get to be.

"Let's go home," Kuon say as he approaches me and takes my hand.

I watch him before nodding, "Home sounds good," I tell him and he sighs. Something seems wrong. He doesn't seem as happy as I am. "Are you okay?" I ask him and he looks at me before shrugging and we walk to my car. Is what I did really that wrong?

…

…..

 _Because you were unable to keep your identity a secret, I can see how much a second chance means to you. In my opinion, you are now owned by us for giving up your second chance._

The words that the fairy has told me echo in my head and I wonder why Kyoko is concerned about my haunted emotions. Neither of us know what the fairy world is capable of. I mean, they put my soul in this body which is very different from my old one. I was going to continue living as Eric Prince. I was very happy about that, I had made my peace with it and now I might be owned by the fairy world as a slave. There's no way that I can ever tell Kyoko those words.

"It's good that it's all out in the open, right?" Kyoko asks me and I nod, turning to avoid eye contact with her. No. It's not good and I would expect this from Kyoko less than anyone else. She has always been respectful to others and is a great actress, I don't know why she has revealed the secret, it's not as if it can change me back, my body was destroyed.

As we arrive back home, I can see that there are dozens of reporters and cameramen waiting for our return. This happy existence that I had dreamed about and wanted and felt that I had a chance to live in anonymity, that is over. I feel sick to my stomach. I feel that I'm stuck in the middle of a tunnel and everything is spinning around me. I don't really feel secure in anything right now.

As our car is spotted, my mother runs out towards us and I see her run past Kyoko with just a quick glance to make sure that she's okay. I'm shivering and Mom can obviously see this. She puts a hand to my shoulder. "It's all right," Mom tries to tell me as Dad holds the door open for Kyoko to safely enter. Mom pushes me through the crowd like a protective mama bear. It isn't until we're both inside that she lets go of me.

"What were you thinking?" Dad asks, his voice doesn't sound accusing or judgmental but more of a terrified voice. None of us want for me to die again or to lose control of this body although that second thing is quite probable with the words the fairy told me.

"Darling," Mom sniffs as she places a comforting hand on my cheek, "are you sure that you're okay."

"Physically I'm feeling okay," I tell her and Dad nods. I think they both feel that what Kyoko just did was a mistake. I don't want to judge her too critically but I really would have preferred to stick to the plan. Impatience sometimes is our worst trait.

Now not only do I have to figure out _who_ I am, I have to figure out _whose_ I am as well.

 **End of Chapter Nine**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Eight**

H-Nala, Kaname671,


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